Caliente mustard reduces root invasion from potato cyst nematodes.
The mustard should be sown, on the ground which is going to grow the potatoes, in the early autumn before the potatoes are to be planted. The mustard is chopped up and incorporated into the soil in the spring, before potato planting.
Caliente mustard releases a gas called isothiocyanate when it is chopped or crushed in damp conditions. This gas acts as a biofumigantin the soil, and reduces the actions of potato cyst eelworm.
Our runner beans are surrounded by hoverflies, and their larvae will eat & so control the blackfly on the runner beans.
hoverfly
The hoverflies mimick wasps by having the same colouring, so they are left alone and avoided by other animals!
The following photo shows a hoverfly on a runner bean flower – it is on the top left of the photo.
hoverfly-&-blackfly
Unfortunately it is much easier to see the blackflyon the runner bean plants!
There is always a time lag whilst the controlling insects build up their numbers, & the pest increases. Hopefully the hoverflies will soon have the blackfly on the runner beans under control!
A trap crop is a plant that attracts pests, usually insects, away from the fruit or vegetables which are growing nearby. Trap cropping is a type of companion planting and another form of organic or biological control.
Examples of trap crops
red-flower-nasturtion
5inch-slug
shot-hole-flea-beetle
The trap crop is planted either:
Trap crop is generally destroyed before the pests’ lifecycle finishes so that it does not spread onto the main crop. When the trap crop is destroyed, the pest will go with it. If you do not want to destroy the trap crop, the pest can be vacuumed up using a mini-vac like the ones used to valet cars.
Trap crops are an interesting way to control bugs in the vegetable garden and a way of protecting the environment, because they do not kill the pests’ predators.
Caliente Mustard:
green manure
Caliente Mustard produces a naturally occurring biofumigant gas (isothiocyanate (ITC)) when its plant cells are damaged (by crushing or chopping).
This gas suppresses a range of:
To encourage the production of the biofumigant gas ITC:
To grow Caliente mustard:
Blackfly is a serious pest of broadbeans in the kitchen garden. A whole mass of shiny black insects cover the growing tips, flower buds and the underside of young leaves of the broad bean plant.
Keep a sharp look out for blackfly on spring-sown beans when they are in flower in June. One advantage of sowing broad beans in the autumn is that they tend to flower early, producing beans in May or June, before any blackfly appear.
Blackfly suck the sap from the broad bean plant causing stunted growth with curled, distorted leaves, and poor crop yields.
Discourage blackfly attack by pinching out the growing tips of the broad bean plants when they are in full flower. Some gardeners pinch out the tops when five flowers have formed, or when the first pods have set. Remember the pinched out tops may be cooked & eaten!
Blackfly control:
Contact insecticides work when they actually touch the blackfly. They have short persistence, so thorough treatment, especially of the underside of leaves, is necessary. Aphids protected by curled leaves are unlikely to be controlled.
Synthetic pesticides generally give a higher level of control. Always read the label for instructions on the use of the product and harvest intervals. The harvest interval is the period of time between spraying the crop and it being safe to eat.
It is possible to grow brassicas (cabbage family) in the garden without
using sprays or other chemicals.
Sprouts, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflowers are damaged by:
* aphids
* white fly
* cabbage
* white caterpillars
* and other insects.
There is a net, specially designed to keep insects out. If this is
spread over the plants it has a dramatic effect.
net
Clean, chemical free, (& bug-free) veg can be proudly presented to the
kitchen, when you know how to grow organic brassicas!
Aphids (such as greenfly and blackfly) appear on leafy vegetables at this time of year, and they need controlling.
As the aphids congregate on the growing tips of vegetable plants, beneficial insects will start to eat them, so that the aphids will gradually disappear after a few weeks. These beneficial insects include ladybirds, green lacewings and larvae of hover flies, which all feast on
the aphids.
Beneficial parasites (such as small wasps that don’t sting humans) don’t eat the aphids, they lay their eggs inside the adult aphid. The baby wasp develops inside the aphid and kill it off.
Flea beetle can be a problem in the vegetable garden during May and
June. They attack members of the brassica family including radish.
Various genera and species of flea beetles cause problems in the
garden, all members of the Chrysomelidae family. One example is the
cabbage stem flea beetle (Psylliodes chrysocephala).
Plants affected
Cruciferous plants such as cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, kale,
turnip, swede, radish, salad rocket. Other plants, such as nasturtium
and stocks can also be attacked.
Symptoms
Small, rounded, irregular holes in cotyledons and leaves of seedlings.
In severe cases the leaves look as if they had been peppered with fine
shot.Seedlings are most vulnerable to flea-beetle when stressed,
particularly by dry, poor seedbeds where crop growth is slow.
Flea beetle life cycle
Flea beetles overwinter in leaf litter as adult beetles & emerge in
spring to attack the seedlings of brassicas and other host plants. They
are quite mobile and may fly a kilometre to find food. In late summer
there is sometimes a significant migration of adult beetles from oilseed
rape fields into gardens when damage to mature plants can occur.Female
beetles lay their eggs in the soil near suitable plants in May/June. The
larvae of the large striped flea beetle feed in ‘mines’ in leaves; the
larvae of other species feed on plant roots, but this does not usually
cause severe damage. These larvae pupate in the soil, new adults
hatching out in the autumn. Adults feed for a few weeks before
hibernating. These adults will survive until the following July or August.
Control of Flea Beetle
Watch out for slugs, and control them in the vegetable garden!
* Slugs eat young seedlings and will completely destroy your plans.
* Slugs like warm, moist conditions. So this spring has been perfect
for them.
* Assume you will have slugs and be prepared.
a-slug
*Keep the vegetable garden tidy.
* Slugs will make camp under anything:- weeds, old leaves &
branches, stones & plant pots, soil clods.
* So remove all potential hideouts.
* Keep the soil raked, so that it is small crumbs and no clods.
Think biological control:
* hedgehogs will fight the battle for you
* guinea fowl & other birds help
* dry, fine dusty material sticks to the slug & turns them away. Put
a ring of soot around the seedlings
* rosemary needles deter slugs
* small cups of beer dropped into the ground act as traps
If all else fails invest in some slug pellets to control slugs in the garden.
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